Bow-guide for violins.



No. 766,549. PATENTE D AUG. 2, 1904.

1 H. S. STRAUSS 6: E. S. SCHWERDTLE.

BOW GUIDE FOR VIDLINS.

AI PPLIOATION FILED MAB. 23, 1903.

m r n 1H *"wmn I WITNESSES: 17 J3 UNITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY S. STRAUSS, OF DERBY, AND EDWARD S. SCHTVERDTLE, OF.

BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

BOW-GUIDE FOR VIOLINS.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 766,549, dated August 2, 1904,

Application filed March 23, 1903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY S. STRAUSS, a resident of Derby, county of New Haven, and EDWARD S. SGHWERDTLE, a resident of Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bow-Guides for Violins, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to violins; and it consists of a guide for locating the position of the bow and is an improvement on the patent granted to us November 11, 1902, No. 713,171.

The present invention consists of a guide for the bow adapted to be attached to some part of the violin, preferably on the fingerboard,-and when not in use as a guide to be folded over out of the way.

The principal object of the guide is to keep the bow in its proper position on the strings, as any slight change from this position will cause a material deviation from a pure or correct tone. This position is well known to musicians and is located at a certain point between the bridge and the free end of the finger-board. This locating-guide is not only an important aid in familiarizing pupils with the exact locality on the strings where perfect bowingshould be done, but it is also a great help to experts, who find it difficult when the arm has become tired from long-continued performance to maintain the bow in its proper place on the strings, for when the arm is tired the tendency is for the arm and bow to drop down and away from this bowing position.

To enable others to understand our invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a broken side elevation of the body of a violin, finger-board, and strings, showing the guide attached to the end of the finger-board and elevated for use. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the guide depressed. Fig. 3 is a broken plan view of the finger-board and broken View of the strings, showing the guide elevated. Fig. 4: is a detached front elevation of the guide and its support, showing the guide raised. Fig.

i 5 is a detached bottom plan view of the guide Serial No. 149,008- (No model.)

and its support. Fig. 6 is a detached upper plan view of the guide and its support.

1 Its construction and operation are as folows:

1 represents the body of the violin; 2, the bridge; 3, the strings, and 4 the finger-board. The guide is more conveniently made of a single piece of wire comprising the central loop forming the projection 5 and the lateral projections 6 and 7. The horizontal portions of the wire are journaled in the ears 8 and 9, integral with the sliding plate 10, whose upturned end 10 is adapted to rest against one edge of the finger-board 4. This plate is combined with the plate 11 to form an adjustable clamp. This latter plate also has the upturned end 11 to embrace the opposite side of the finger-board. The two plates are operatively connected together as follows: The upper plate has the two downward-projecting lugs 12 and 13, the latter embraced by the opening 14: in one end of the plate 11, (see Fig. 5,) while the other lug projects through the opening 15 of the plate 11 and carries the adjusting-screw 16, whose point is rotatably mounted in a hole formed in one leg of the U-shaped lug 17, Fig. 4, projecting from said plate 11. The two plates are thus adjustably connected together, so that when they are opened or closed to fit diflerent widths of finger-boards the fingers or guide projection 5, 6, and 7 will always stand in the same relative position with respect to the strings regardless of the variations in widthof the finger-boards. This is a very important feature. Otherwise it would be necessary to bend the guide-fingers for every instrument, as it would not do to have them come in contact with the strings.

As the bow' in moving over the strings through an. arc of a circle is seldom in contact with more than one of the guide-fingers at a time it is liable to deviate from a straight line or a line at right angles to the strings, and to prevent this the upper ends of these guide-fingers have a forward inclination or curve, so that as either end of the bow falls it will engage Withthe curved end of the adjacent guide-finger and be carried down against the vertical portion or face of such finger.

When the guide is once attached to the instrument, it is advisable to let it remain there as a permanent fixture, and to enable it to be temporarily disposed of, especially when the instrument is placed in its boX, it is so constructed that it is readily folded over or reversed and carried out of the way below the strings, as shown at Fig. 2. To maintain it in this position and prevent its striking against the upper surface of the violin, the notches 18, Fig. 4, are formed in the ends of the ears 8 and 9, into which the side members of the central guide-finger 5 will be sprung. 19, Fig. 6, represents similar notches formed in the top of said ears to receive said members when the finger is in a vertical position. To further support the guide when in an upright position, the projection 20, integral with the upper plate 10, acts as a stop or brace against the forward pressure of the how when in action, while the notches 19 simply hold the guide in a vertical position when the bow is removed.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a violin of a device for locating and maintaining the proper position of the bow on the violin-strings, comprising a basepiece secured to the fingerboard, a bow-locating guide pivoted to said base-piece, stops for temporarily holding said guide in a horizontal and in a vertical position, a brace to still further support it while in said vertical position, for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a violin of a device for locating and maintaining the proper position of the bow on the violin-strings, comprising a supporting-base secured to the finger-board of the violin, said base comprising two plates constructed to move in opposite directions, means on each of said plates to engage the sides of said finger-board, an adjusting-screw to operate one of said plates, a bow-locating guide pivoted to one of said plates, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination with a violin of a device for locating and maintaining the proper position of the bow on the violin-strings, comprising a supporting-base detachably secured to the violin, a movable guide pivoted to said base, said guide having fingers against which the bow may rest when said guide is elevated, one of said fingers then passing between the violin-strings, the other fingers located outside of said strings, the upper end of said fingers curved to facilitate guiding the bow against the vertical portion of said fingers, for the purpose set forth.

' Signed at- Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, this 18th day of March, A. D. 1903.

HARRY S. STRAUSS. EDWARD S. SCHVVERDTLE. Witnesses:

A. L. ADAMS, Gno. W. FINN. 

